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In the
1960s the Fortune 500 list was dominated by US manufacturing companies. These
companies had not yet been offshored and the US economy was building the middle
class. Corporate taxes were 35% and companies chose to overstaff rather than
pay taxes.
As these
US companies expanded overseas, they were increasingly required by foreign
countries to move assembly operations to these countries. At the same time,
foreign countries were lowering thei corporate tax rates and the US was not.
In the
1970s, US automakers began to lose market share to foreign car imports with
better mpg and better quality. By 1980,
US company profits were under 5%, unions had killed US productivity and US
individual tax rates were 70%. Inflation was 13%. The cost of everything
doubled and dual income families became the norm. Salaries over $25,000 were
overtaxed. After the 1986 tax cuts, top salaries began to quadruple because
income tax rates had been lowered to 30%.
The US
electronics revolution was underway in the 1980s and 1990s with the PC and
redesign of the telephone system.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody
GA Tea Party Leader
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